Getting to Know the 2023 Teresa Harris Guthrie Award Winner

Tanvi is a shining example of everything that makes the University of Georgia great—the opening sentence of her nomination form.

Meet Tanvi Pucha. After growing up in the Atlanta Metro area, she came to UGA on the pre-med track and joined the Honor’s college. Excellence is and always has been a standard for Pucha, as demonstrated by her maintaining a high GPA while juggling numerous extracurricular activities and peer leadership roles each semester. In Aug. 2022, she added “student worker” to her already impressive resume by joining the UGA Career Center as a Team Assistant.

Pucha’s supervisor, Brionna Johnson, said, “The Team Assistant role is what I would consider a rather stereotypical internship role. Throughout this year, though, Tanvi has exhibited an immense commitment to student support initiatives and has elevated the position to new heights by making it her own.”

Because of her personal experience as a pre-med student, Pucha decided to join the Career Center’s internal pre-health committee and worked closely with the Career Consultant team in producing, editing, and finalizing Pre-Health eLC modules that are now available for the entire UGA student population to access. Presently, there are 368 students that have engaged with the course. Pucha’s perspective in compiling this information was invaluable, as she has been navigating the medical school preparation process firsthand. Her commitment to perfecting every student- and staff-facing resource, eLC webpage and document available for download was integral in getting this resource rolled out early this Spring rather than in the summer or next fall.

Pucha said she initially thought her student employee job would be something to do on the side to boost her resume, but found the Career Center to be a wonderful place to work where she learned from her fellow student workers as well as Career Center staff.

“I have heard so many stories from friends who worked their first job in other industries that have not been a good experience, so I was a little nervous coming into the job. I was totally surprised that every single person I work with is amazing and so kindhearted,” Pucha said.

Pucha credits the Career Center staff for helping to mold her into the student she is today, but Johnson says, “Tanvi’s work-ethic and positive attitude embodies the legacy that Teresa Harris Guthrie has left behind. I think the most exciting example of Tanvi’s commitment to DAR and the Career Center is that she is being promoted to Career Development Intern for the upcoming 23-24 academic year.” Follow this high-achieving Bulldog on LinkedIn.

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Presented annually, the Teresa Harris Guthrie Award recognizes an outstanding student employee who has made a positive impact on the Division of Development & Alumni Relations at UGA through the demonstration of one or more DAR SIC ’Em values: Servant Leadership, Innovation and Commitment. The winner receives a framed certificate and a $500 cash prize funded by the Teresa Harris Guthrie Memorial Fund.

The division established the award in memory of former DAR employee Teresa Harris Guthrie. Her smile, outgoing personality and endless positive attitude made Teresa a joy and a comfort to be near. Her co-workers, family and friends raised money to create this award in memory of her dedication and mentorship to the students who worked with her.